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| According
to those familiar with the show, while many episodes in past seasons
have featured diving, it's wasn't exactly an activity some of the
actresses were fond of. In fact, if it wasn't for the script, they
may not have put scuba gear on at all. However, Brooke brings a
whole new perspective to playing the role of rookie lifeguard Jessie
Owens, she's anxious to put on her dive gear and get in the water.
"I enjoy the action side of the show. The days we do the water work
are when I have the most fun. The boats, jet skis, swimming and
diving - I love that stuff." It's good that she's not afraid to get her feet wet, because this season Baywatch producer Greg Bonann required cast members to go through a scuba certification course to prepare for the 22-episodes that were shot last Fall. The goal? To make all of the diving, the rescues, and "water work" be as authentic as possible. So Brooke, along with cast mate Mitzi Kapture, took private lessons in a 10,000-gallon specially-constructed tank on the Baywatch set. The daughter of a national champion swimmer, Brooke's always been comfortable in and around the water and as a result, impressed her instructor, Bob Atkinson. "She's not only a beautiful model, but she's also a model diver. During her underwater scenes, she's not having to act, she's a great diver and it shows," he recalls. Brooke was excited to be able to formalize her scuba training after taking resort courses in Jamaica, the Seychelles and Malta while on various modeling assignments. "It (her first dive) was great, but spooky. Diving's so quiet that it's beautiful and hearing yourself breathe underwater is quite relaxing." The young actress, who was once a professional ballet dancer, took to scuba so quickly that now she wants to do as much underwater work as possible. "I'm offended when they ask if I want a stunt woman. I tell them, 'Excuse me, but I can do this.'" All the same, Brooke may have wanted to ask for a stuntwoman when she heard that in her first underwater scene she was going to meet up with a rather large co-star - a giant moral eel. The scene called for her character to be trapped under a large rock. So after stunt coordinators carefully choreographed her underwater movements and placed large plastic "rocks" on her, Brooke then played her part, which she described as "showing fear." Although the scene was only a few minutes long, it helped set the stage for Brooke's desire for more underwater work. "It was exciting," the young daredevil confesses. "I like to live life on the edge and I'm a bit of a risk taker. I like the things that are physically challenging." Last fall, when it was announced that Brooke was joining the show, many people thought she would be playing a "glamour part", similar to the "fantasy girl" role she played on "Ally McBeal" last year. But the young star, who grew up in Dallas, Texas, had other ideas. "My character was meant to be an aspiring actress," she recalls. "But I went in and asked Greg (Bonann) if they could make her an aspiring stuntwoman instead and he agreed." As a result, viewers this season saw Brooke racing jet skis, climbing buildings and diving for lobsters, in addition to her lifeguarding duties. Brooke understands that she is a role model and that she's often in a position to give something back. She just completed a public service announcement for the State of California encouraging people to become environmentally aware. "Water is such a big part of my life now that they felt it was appropriate and I agree. My work time and now my play time involves the ocean and I want people to take care of it." Being able to dive has also helped her develop a better understanding for the ocean. "A lot of time we focus on what we can see and a lot of the underwater world is unseen to us. The beauty of the underwater life needs to be protected." Giant moray eels aside, Brooke has had some real quality encounters with large ocean inhabitants. She recalls diving in Hawaii on a family vacation and running into a giant sea turtle. "It was huge and graceful. What a great dive." She expects to have more such encounters during the coming year as Baywatch producers have recently announced the series will relocate to Hawaii. The series, re-titled "Baywatch Hawaii," will premiere this Fall. Brooke's future diving plans may involve trips to Belize and Australia, and while she says she hasn't yet encountered a shark in the water, she has learned to deal with the sharks that prowl Hollywood and the Southern California beaches. "I think they are a bit more dangerous," she concluded. END |
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